Friday, June 27, 2008

That's right, red skies. Though where I live in California isn't too close to the numerous raging wildfires burning through out the bay area, but it is close enough to have had the very freaky red smoky haze covering the sky all week long. Every morning watching the sunrise is almost like watching scenes from that classic eighties flick, Night Of The Comet. The weather has gone from cool to hot again, and has continued to carry a eerie breeze every single day. Here in California, we call this strange eerie weather, Earthquake weather.

The bad air quality, which has led officials to recommend not being outside any more than we have to, is the cause of the horrid cough, sore throat, and stuffy nose I've been fighting all week as well. I guess it could be a cold, but I don't know. By the way, that picture is actually from Night Of The Comet, it's not Livermore....

So where should I start with my week? The good, the bad, or the pointless? How about the bad? So one of my daycare parents gave me notice today. SUCKS. She gave me just two days shy of a two week notice, which is what my contract calls for, but I'm not going to push it. She is broke and can't afford daycare anymore, so her mom is going to watch her. I feel for her, I really do, but man, why now? We were just finally starting to recover from the whole bankruptcy thing, and with the little extra money I was going to be making writing things were going to start to get a little better finally, but NO. I have already put out an add, but so far not one call. So many people are out of work, that there's just not a whole lot of people looking for daycare. I may be getting a little girl I used to watch part time back, but we'll have to see for sure on Monday. Why is it, just when things start looking good, they go right back to bad? I feel like Charlie Brown. AARRRGGG!

And in crazy lady news, the cat lady has returned! In case you missed it, here's what went down last week. While trying to find out why we hadn't received our state refund, I found out from the franchise tax board that our refund had been denied because the paperwork was incomplete! That's right, stupid cat lady made up a phone number and left out all the information on the tax form that requested all our pre-school child tax care credit information. She MADE UP a phone number. The FTB person walked me through filling out the form and I faxed it back, but they said it would take about 8 weeks for them to review it and allow the refund. So we decided to wait until then to pay the crazy cat lady. It only seemed fair, after everything she put us through when we couldn't get a hold of her before the bankruptcy, and now finding out she didn't even complete the paperwork! We had every intention of paying her, she was just going to have to wait until we got that refund.

So I called her yesterday and left a very nice message for her explaining this. Honestly, I was very nice about it, and told her she could call me back if she had any questions. Funny thing, when it comes to her not getting paid, she is suddenly able to return a phone call pretty quickly... anyhow, she had a snarky tone right off the bat, and anyone who knows me knows that I dish snarky, I DO NOT take snarky. I remained cool, and she explained that she had called the FTB, and that they had told her that not only were we not getting our refund because of the bankruptcy (untrue, we know first hand that the judge/trustee allowed us to keep our refunds) but that there was nothing she could do to collect her payment that we owed her (another lie, like just because we're in bankruptcy we can go around not paying people for their services).

Obviously she talked to a generic operator, because she can't get our tax information without our permission. So I explained to her about the incomplete paperwork, and she asked what information I had to back that up? So, having the form in front of me, I rattled off the form number and all the empty lines, and the phone number she made up. She kept saying that she doesn't make up phone numbers. I told her, well maybe it's a real number, but it's not one I've ever seen. I kept telling her that we were going to pay her, but she kept interrupting me and saying that we were just going to have to pay her if it was in our hearts to do so (snarky tone still raging). I, still being polite, again tried to explain to her about the incomplete paperwork. She began to YELL over me saying bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, until she finally hung up.

I immediately called her back and told her to suck it, that I hope her cats choked on a hair ball, and that she would not be getting paid until sometime after hell froze over.

Ok, so I didn't really call her back, but I did decide that my heart feels very strongly that she should indeed suck it, and won't be getting paid. So suck it, crazy cat lady.

Now, onto to the good news, we won the lottery!!!! Not the CA state lottery, but the Kindergarten lottery! Two weeks ago we received the letter that stated they had too many kids registered for our home school, and that they were doing a lottery for the open spots. We are in! This may seem silly to some, but our school is a three minute walk from our front door, dragging all the kids across town to some other school, on top of getting Cheyanne to pre-school would have been horrific. So yay for us!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Well, with a 100 degree heat and daily trips to the pool, the first day of summer comes in with a heated bang. What a week. My big news of course being my phone call with none other than Corey Feldman on Wednesday!!!! That's right, I chatted with the Feldman for a good 15 minutes! Woo Hoo! He was much more down to earth than I expected and it was really fun talking with him. It took all I could though to keep from turning into Chris Farley from the Chris Farley Show sketch from SNL. "Hey Corey, remember when you did License To Drive? That was cool. Or when you filled the bathtub up with holy water in The Lost Boys? That was awesome. Or..or...or in Goonies, when the Pirate Ship escaped at the end and you had the jewels? That was awesome..."I kept my cool, and the interview will be posted on Reality Shack just as soon as I finish it....which maybe I should be doing instead of this....

The first week of swim lessons is officially over. What a hectic thing! Patrick & Cheyanne are doing awesome though!! I can't believe how good they've gotten just over these first few days. I can't imagine how strong they'll be by the end of the summer! Well worth the chaos.

My big news item this week? The pregnant girls over in Gloucester, Mass. Seventeen girls in one high school, all pregnant? Rumor is that they made a pregnancy pact so that they could all raise their babies together. None of them are over 16, and it's reported that the fathers are all random guys in their twenties. One girl even admitting that the father of her baby was some homeless 24 year old. Basically sperm donors. WTF? The school apparently got suspicious when they noticed an unusually high number of girls coming into the school clinic asking for pregnancy tests. The girls who were pregnant were high fiving each other and planning baby showers, while the girls who were NOT pregnant, were noticeably upset. Pregnancy pacts? Are you kidding me? I thought kids today were more mature then in my day, but did somebody decide they would have to lose brain cells in exchange for the early maturity? And what the heck little fishing town is this? Ok, I;'m not stupid. There have always been teenage pregnancies ad there probably always will be. But 17, in one high school? All under 16? What the heck are those kids watching? Juno on a constant loop? Really, I think maybe the high school should be checked for brain cell killing asbestos or something, because that's just plain crazy.

So Friday I get a letter in the mail from the school district saying that they didn't have enough spots to fill all the kids who are registered for Kindergarten at our home school (neighborhood school). When I say "home school" I mean I can see the darn Kindergarten classrooms from my kitchen window, that's how close we are. So because priority is given to kids who already have siblings attending the school and then to children whose parents work for the school district, and then everyone in the area that our school is in. After the priority kids that leaves 54 openings for which there are 78 kids registered! The letter said that that they are going to do a lottery to fill those remaining spots, and the rest of the kids will be assigned other schools in the city. Does that suck or what? I called the school district and let them have what for. The lady was actually very sympathetic, but of course there was nothing she could do. The lottery is on Tuesday, and if I call around 4pm I can find out if we got in instead of waiting for the letter in the mail. I'm so frustrated right now. One of the things that made this house perfect was that it was only a two minute walk to school!! I can;t imagine having to drive all the daycare kids to and form another school across town everyday, on top of Cheyanne's pre-school schedule. I told the lady to go ahead and get used to me, because I will probably be getting to know her well over the next 15 years...

Well Thursday was the finale of my secret obsession, Celebacadabra. My man, C. Thomas Howell kicked cocky little Hal Sparks butt! Woo Hoo! I'm actually sad to see it end. Then yesterday I watched Outsiders. C. Thomas Howell did well, but should have had a much bigger career. Scott Baio is going to be doing a new show VH1 next fall. The untitled show will take a group of former heartthrobs and follow them as they try and revive their careers. If C. Thomas Howell is in it, I'm IN. Maybe they should just go ahead and get the whole cast of Outsiders (minus Crazy Cruise of course) and start from there. Hey VH1, if you're reading this, you have my full support on that. Oh and since you're here, how about bringing back Behind The Music & Bands Reunited?

Yesterday Patrick & Allen went out for some Father;s Day bonding and saw the Hulk. They both loved it. Cheyanne and I went swimming at the pool, and then did out nails. I painted hers and she painted mine. It was so cute!!! One of our first real girly bonding moments. She was quite precise too for a three year old. I have no intention of taking the polish off anytime soon, she's way too proud of it. We brushed each other's hair and watched the Outsiders (see above). I figure a girl is never to young to meet the original eighties heartthrobs. Lowe, Howell, Macchio, Dillon, Cruise, Estevez, and of course Swayze!

Speaking of which, I read in EW this week that Patrick Swayze is has responded well to treatment for his cancer. That's always great to hear, I wish him nothing but good health.

That brings me of course to Father's Day. We went out to Napa to have a BBQ with my dad. It was my step mom's brother's house, and it was nestled way up in Soda Canyon in the Napa hills. I swear it was one of the most beautiful pieces of land,. EVER. It was just gorgeous. I wouldn't mind to live in a place like that! The best part though was seeing my dad. He looks so unbelievably great for someone who is undergoing both radiation & chemotherapy. At the same time, mind you. We don't really know how the cancer is responding to the treatment, but his oncologist is amazed at how well my dad is taking at all. Not that he isn't in a lot of pain. Especially on a day like today, he was pretty much done after a couple of hours, but he stuck it out. He can't talk for very long at a time, but the doctors didn't think he'd be talking at all anymore at this point. We are all keeping our hopes up, especially after a day like today. 13 more days of radiation and one more round of chemo to go....

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I just got back from our neighborhood pool where I signed up the kids for their summer swim lessons which start Monday. Of course I had to got through the hush hush thing, because I was signing up 2 of my daycare kids too. They made an exception because they were daycare kids, but told me not to advertise because of all the drama that went on last year when the other daycare lady in the neighborhood took up almost all the 12:30 spots. You see those are spots that AREN'T going to kids in the neighborhood. I get their grief, and she' s got about 10 spots she's taking up, none of which are her own. I'm only taking two spots that aren't my own kids, and MY kids wouldn't be able to participate if I couldn't include those two extra kids. Anyhow, I got everybody signed up and my extra chaotic job of taking all six kids to swim lessons (the two little ones of course are too young for lessons and will be strapped in to the stroller) everyday for the rest of the sumemr. Yay for me...

I use paper plates all the time. I know it's wasteful both economically and environmentally. I do not care. It is one of the luxuries I afford myself. And with the daycare I still do one load a day in the dishwasher. Could you imagine if I served every meal and snack on regular plates? I guess in all honesty, I'm just lazy. But Dixie plates are now running this great commercial that makes me feel like I'm not lazy, but actually using paper plates for the well being of my family, and because it makes me a better mother. Kudos to you Dixie ad people. You have managed to turn my laziness into a noble gesture for my family. Thank you.

Note To Hogan Family:You are bad bad people and to quote the esteemed Dr. Seuss,"I would not like them here or there.I would not like them anywhere.I do not like the Hogan Family,I do not like them, VH1 can't you see?"

OK, so it's summer and my TV viewing standards have dropped dramatically. Like to the point where I watched Celebrity Circus last night. It was awful, but somehow I couldn't turn away...

Speaking of, I have retracted my original opinion on Celebecadabra and am about to turn in to the finale on VH1. No, I'm going to watch my dear Ponyboy KICK Hal Sparks Magic lovin butt!!! That's right, I've decided anything that gives me C. Thomas Howell in weekly doses, is ALL good.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Over the years I've been asked the question, what's it like being married to a musician? That's such a tricky one to answer, because the answer is, it depends on the day. Music has always been one of the most personal and vital parts to my being. So marrying a musician seemed only logical. My life as musician's wife has actually been a number of different roles over the years. Each one different depending the phase of life we were living. When I met him he was jut a guy in a band playing at a party. When we started dating he was a professional Bluesman, touring the US and Canada, headlining blues festivals across the country.

The first phase was my "Killing Me Softly" phase. Seeing the music man onstage for the first time. "There he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes, Strumming my pain with his fingers, Singing my life with his words killing me softy with his song, telling my whole life, with his words" Truly a moment when the world around me stopped, and I knew I would forever be changed.

Once we began dating I entered into my "Magic Man" phase. The week we started dating he whisked me away to Long Beach. My friends thought I was crazy, my parents trusted my instincts and gave me enough money for a bus home just in case.... "Come on home, girl he said with a smile, I cast my spell of love on you a woman from a child! But try to understand, try to understand I'm a magic man!" And he did cast a spell, one that I've yet to shake...

Being alone while he was gone was a hard thing to get used to. This of course was entering into my "So Far Away" and my "Save Tonight" phases. "One more song about moving along the highway, Can't say much of anything that's new, If I could only work this life out my way, I'd rather spend it being close to you, But you're so far away" Oh, the phone bills were outrageous, and the nights I spent starring up at an empty sky missing him seemed endless. Then he would come home, and we would spend every possible moment together. Until inevitably we would find ourselves on our last night. We would do our best just as the song Save Tonight says, "Save tonight and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow - tomorrow I'll be gone, save tonight and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow - tomorrow I'll be gone"

Over time being on the road wears thin. For the girl left behind, and the man alone on the bus. The decision to leave the band and come home after years of being on the road, didn't come easy for him. In his heart he knew it was time, and though I did my best to be supportive either way, in my heart I just wanted him home for good. Years later I would I swore I heard Michael Buble sing about the night that I drove to the Oakland Airport and picked up my music man. The night he left the road for good. "Another aeroplane, Another sunny place, I’m lucky I know, But I wanna go home, Mmmm, I’ve got to go home".

Then we began our life together. He immersed himself back into the bay area blues scene and hooked up a gig with a local Blues legend. I was able to join him on most gigs, and began to see what it was like to be part of the scene myself. Part of the band, part of that second family, in spite of the fact I was so much younger than everyone else. By this time we were engaged. I was no longer the "girlfriend" I was his Old lady, his woman, his fiance. Or as I remember it, his tiny dancer. Truly living the life with him. "Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band, Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man, Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand, And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand"

In time that gig too would end. He was ready to start fronting his own band again, and he started playing at a new club downtown. This quickly snowballed into him becoming the hottest ticket in town. Headlining our summer festivals, charity events, monthly shows, even hosting a weekly jam night, that anybody who was anybody came out for. Being that we were married by this time, it was truly a different experience. I was as well known as he was, just from being his wife. I helped promote some of those charity gigs, and events. What I remember most of those days, is late in the evening after the bar would close..."First thing I remember when you came into my life ,I said I wanna get that girl no matter what I do, Well I guess I've been in love before and once or twice have been on the floor, But I've never loved no-one the way that I love you..and I love you, And it was late in the evening, and all the music's seeping through"

Becoming a mother forever changed my role as musicians wife. Suddenly, I wasn't able to go to his gigs or stay out late at the bar. That feeling of being left out, though silly, was hard to handle at first. Another woman married to a music man had obviously had some similar late night phone calls as the ones I had during that time. The nights I would look over at the clock, waiting for his gig to end, and these words would float through my head... "Just a few more hours and I'll be right home to you, I think I hear them callin', Oh, Beth what can I do, Beth what can I do?"

Though my husband does play every couple months, and a few outdoor shows during the summer, his biggest fans are actually the two little ones that call him daddy. I get as much a kick out of watching him captivate them with his guitar as I ever did the huge crowds at all those Blues Festivals and classy clubs. The trick to being a married to a music man? Being faithful. Faithful to him, to my kids, to our life together, to myself, and of course, faithful to the music that brought us together in the first place. "Right down the line it's been you and me, And loving a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be, Girl you stand by me, I'm forever yours, faithfully"

Happy weekend kids! So it was kind of a quiet week. I had only one kid here all day everyday for the whole week. The rest were hit and miss, only here for a couple of hours, if at all. A very nice break. That's the thing about doing small family daycare. The odds are at some point during the year you'll end up with a quiet day...Other news this week, I officially have my General Hospital blog up and running. I was a little surprised at how much traffic generated from day one. Not huge or anything, but I got twenty hits the first day! People love their General Hospital I guess! I was inspired to start it after applying for a guide position at About.com running their GH website. I didn't get it, and was a bit disappointed (obviously the GH site is a decent money maker with the amount of traffic it generates). So I figured why not just make my own GH site, and see what I can do with it. The next time an opportunity comes up for a soap related site, I'll be all set. Besides, I think some small part of me hopes that the writers over at GH will see my complaints and suddenly start writing better material.... It could happen...Speaking of writing, it looks like I may be getting to interview The Coreys!!! (shriek! giggle! swoon!) That's right, little ol me just might be interviewing both the Feldmaster and The Haimster for reality shack for the second season premier of A&E's The Two Coreys. I should be getting a screener of the show and then if all works out get to interview both Coreys, of course the will not do interviews together, so it'll be two separate interviews.... What do I ask? These are guys who I thought the sun rose & set with as a kid. I even saw Feldman live & in concert at Stoneridge Mall!!! Heck, my son is watching Goonies right now! I hope it works out! Keep your fingers crossed! In the mean time, hit up Reality Shack to catch up on the first season of The two Coreys and to get your hilarious fill of all things reality show related!I wrote about my experience seeing Corey Feldman in concert over on JamsBio...

Well I'm officially a columnist for JamsBio's Biolog! I got an email yesterday. It's a paid thing (W-9 and everything!). I'm not about to quit the day job or anything, but it's something!! I can actually say "I'm a columnist". So I'm no Carrie Bradshaw or anything, but it's a nifty start... I'm also getting paid a little extra to help load up their new game they added to the site too. It's terribly addictive I recommend trying it immediately...JamsBio GamesThe Biolog

I am an Entertainment Weekly junkie, and through it have found a new BFF (Ok, so we'll never actually meet or anything, but in my mind she's my new BFF) Diablo Cody! She is hilarious, and when it comes to taste in pop culture I think we share the same brain... In her column, "Binge Thinking" in this weeks issue she talked about the return of 90210! Specifically the coup that is the CW getting both Tori Spelling & Jennie Garth to reprise their legendary Beverly Hills roles for the spin off coming to the CW this fall. Every 30-ish gal our age knows that this is huge news. My pop culture world would only be complete if they somehow made it known to the 90210 masses that Dylan has left Kelly & returned to be with Brenda in Paris. In your face Kelly Taylor!Binge Thinking w/Diablo Cody

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

So it's Wednesday and we finally have our democratic nominee! Yippee! I fully admit to, and am proud to be a Clinton supporter, but I do love Obama. So, though I'm disappointed in Clinton losing, I am still very happy with the candidate that's going into the general election. I have family in Chicago (republicans at that) who think the sun rises and sets with Obama & his wife. So I'm going to back him with my whole democratic heart. My only concern with Obama, is he strong enough to take on the GOP machine? And will all Clinton's supporters be as quick to support the nominee and the party like I am? It's a tough call. I'm still hoping for that dream ticket, Clinton as VP. I'm no politician, but it sure seems like a no brainer to me. It will make him unbeatable, and ensure her another shot at President in 8 years. Could you imagine? Our first black president followed by our first woman president? I can only imagine what the world my children are going to grow up in will be like! What an amazing time to be alive and living history!Here's what I wrote about last night's history making event on JamsBio,Sam's Resting Easy Tonight

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Did you see Johnny Depp accept his two awards at the MTV awards tonight? I think I can honestly use the word swoon!!! He looked AWESOME! I don't know what he's all cleaned up for, but whatever it is, he can just have my money now. Would I be wishful thinking if I wondered out loud that it could have something to do with a 21 Jump Street movie? My heart is beating from seeing him. I swear I'm 12 years old again crushin on Hanson! Swooning over here still...Iron man for best summer movie (yea, I know it's June 1...) and Adam Sandler was hilarious!!! I loved seeing Wayne's World skits again! This is the most I've enjoyed the MTV movie awards in years....

Allen took the kids to his moms and I'm sitting here in my PJ's chillin. I've already cleaned the house, well picked up the house. It just feels so weird to have a quiet house... Nice though. Yesterday we had a picnic at Sunol and had a great time. It was PERFECT weather. Breezy and cool, without being cold. Bright and sunny without being hot. It felt like Spring. It was strange walking around there with my dad and the kids. My memories of playing in that creek and camping there as a kid are so vivid. The smell of sycamore and willow trees filled the spring air. Just like it was did when I was a kid. Do you ever have those moments when your life feels like it's right where it's supposed to be? That was yesterday. Yesterday under the sycamore trees with my dad, just like when I was a kid.

On a less spiritual note, anyone seen the movie Let's Go To The Prison? Starring Will Arnett (30 Rock) and Dax Shepard? OK, this is teh stupidest YET funniest movie I've seen in a long long time. I don't know why or how or what, but it had me laughing my ass off. If you happen to see it somewhere, watch it!